Here is what you need to know on this Thursday, September 12, three days before the Redskins play the Packers at Lambeau Field.

Nickel coverage

1. When asking Redskins players about Aaron Rodgers it didn’t take long for them to come to saying “one of the best in the business”. Robert Griffin III said of him, “I appreciate the way he plays, the swagger he plays with, how he treats his teammates, all those different things. So you look up to those things.” However, he won’t spend much time appreciating Rodgers during the game. “When you’re playing him, you’re on opposite sidelines. There is no looking up to that. You’ve just got to go play.”

2. It was somewhat surprising the Brandon Meriweather was a full participant in practice. He was limited all last week with the groin problem and after testing it out on Monday night at FedEx he was placed on the inactive list. Practicing today is no guarantee that he will be able to play on Sunday but it’s certainly a good sign.

3. Jermichael Finley, the Packers’ pass-catching tight end, was one of two Green Bay players who sat out practice due to injuries yesterday. Finley injured a toe during their game against the 49ers and Josh Stitton’s back tightened up on the flight back to Wisconsin. Finley, who caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown, did finish the game so it is not thought that the injury is serious.

4. In the locker room on Wednesday we heard a lot of players saying something similar to what London Fletcher said about the Eagles game:

You have 24 hours to celebrate or sulk so, in the NFL you can’t dwell too long or celebrate too long because the next game is up on you pretty fast. With this being a little bit shorter week, you had one day and then last night I started looking at Green Bay film and started prepping for them.

5. On Monday night, Chris Thompson drifted back and fair caught a punt on the Redskins’ five yard line. The mistake was magnified two plays later when Alfred Morris couldn’t handle a pitch from Griffin and the running back fell on the ball in the end zone for a safety. Tarik asked Thompson about his rookie mistake yesterday:

I was upset. At the moment I didn’t know it was such a bad idea, that I stepped back so far. I shouldn’t have done that. I just have to continue to work at it. It shouldn't have happened. It felt like I was running lateral, but I was losing ground. I should have just let it go. But it was way too late to get out of the way of the ball.”

Stat of the day

—The Redskins got off to a bad start when it comes to fixing one of their statistical sore spots last year, third down conversions. Last year they converted just 35.8 percent; on Monday it was just two of 10 for 20 percent.

At this stage of his career, Jackson is a well-known deep threat. While much of the 2016 season has been disappointing for Jackson, in back-to-back weeks, the vertical passing attack has worked. In Arizona last Sunday, Jackson only caught one pass, but it went for 59 yards. On Thanksgiving in Dallas, Jackson hauled in a 67-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins as part of his season-high 118 receiving yards.

"What he brings to this football team, he brings something that not a lot of people can bring, and that’s obviously the speed and the big play ability," 'Skins head coach Jay Gruden said of Jackson.

The last two games moved Jackson's yards-per-catch average back in normal range with the rest of his career at 16.5. Halfway through this season, Jackson was averaging below 14 YPC, which would have been by far the worst of his career.

"A lot of people think that we haven’t utilized his speed quite like we should, but I think he has had a major impact on this football team," Gruden said. "His deep threat has an impact on the defense. It opens up areas for Jordan Reed and Jamison Crowder and the backs sometimes. He’s been a major influence for this football team in a good way."

Beyond just the big plays, the Eagles defense has given up 645 passing yards in their last two games. Cousins has historically played well in Philadelphia, and should be in good position to do the same this weekend.

And based on the Eagles' past six games, expect Jackson to have another big game at Lincoln Financial Field.